Embracing a New Measurement Scale

“More often than not” is a powerful saying. Embracing a “More often than not” mentality increases motivation and makes reaching goals a possibility.

Creating good habits, whether they be work habits, exercise habits, or eating habits, requires goals. It takes time to bring our goals into alignment with the realities of lifestyle and schedule. This means that during that period of alignment, failure is inevitable. Instead of thinking, “I failed because I only implemented my new goal 4 out of 7 days this week”, think, “I implemented my goal more times this week than I did before I set the goal.” In other words, I reached my goal more often than not. This subtle shift of thinking makes way for motivation, rather than triggering feelings of failure and doubt.

What do you believe about forming a new habit? Before setting your goals, it’s important to understand the truth about forming habits. How long does it really take for this to become second nature? How long until it isn’t such an effort? New studies have revealed that the old saying, “It takes 21 days to build a new habit” is actually false. The length of time to create a new habit can take anywhere from 2-8 months, and the process is one of falling down and getting back up again. So instead of feeling like a failure if you don’t hit the mark 7/7 times, take a look at how often you did hit your target. Success comes when we have agile expectations. And when you fall, fall forward and take aim again tomorrow.